Khoe
The Khoe are a race of aliens that hail from the planet Asnarand, though they named it "Khà Khủn Khiếp" or "Home of Shadow". They are most known for their delicate appearance and their high agility. Biology Their translucent flesh is made out of a gelatin-like substance, extremely delicate everywhere except for the rubbery bottoms of their feet and pads of their fingers. Their skeleton and organs are nearly durable in order to compensate for their relatively weak flesh. The Khoe typically grow to be between 4'8 to 5'7 with very little fat. Most of their weight are attributed to their insides, though it is not to say that their skeleton and organs are particularly heavy. In order to survive their large array of predators, the Khoe must be very light on their feet and very cautious in their activities. In addition, their acute hearing and sight assist them in their journey for survival, their conventional senses heightened in comparison to many other species. Those that are not particularly fast tend to die very early on. Those that meet the typical Khoe speed standards don't live very long lives either. They tend to perish before reaching middle age, usually either from prey, illness, or heart disease. Diet They subsist almost entirely on a diet of insects and tree sap. However, on special occasions, exceptions are made. During the spring and fall equinoxes, they eat their ceremonial mold, a substance they believe gives them clarity for the season ahead. Prior to First Contact The Khoe were typically found in small, nomadic tribes with a very small rate of development. Their lack of both technological and societal development stemmed from their mixture of instinctual paranoia and migration tactics in accordance to their food source. This paranoia inherent in them extends to their various, precautionary traditions. For instance, in order for a Khoe to leave one tribe and join another, they had to must marry a Khoe from the tribe they wish to join, have their first child, participate in hunting and gathering for food, and place in an official race amongst their peers. If they failed to deliver on any one of those conditions, they were not allowed to be part of either the new tribe or their former tribe. Even so, becoming a member of a tribe is a far different matter from actually belonging there. There is a stigma to being new, as each tribe has their own traditions, their own spiritual rituals, their own laws, and, sometimes, their own dialect. To be from such a different environment is to be untrustworthy, and to call someone an outsider ("Knoài") is the worst insult one can bestow upon a fellow tribesman. Though the Knoe are not necessarily confrontational in nature, to call one "Knoài" is one of the few surefire ways to start a fight, either with the individual or with the individual's friends. The way their culture functions, one can even say that the Khoe sabotage attempts at biodiversity. This is mainly the reason for their few numbers, short lifespans, and relatively weak immune systems. However, this was once balanced by an annual "Gathering of the Tribes," or "Káu Kộ Lạk." This was a time for allied tribes to spread information, share resources, and add to their respective gene pools. Yes, indeed, there are many tales of trysts occuring during the gatherings of old, such events that were commonplace before they were first contacted by humans.